■ ir-w -«r" -'B^'- 



1861. 



THE ILLmOIS FAEMEE. 



69 



only for those who are fortunate enough to 

 live in close proximity to the water. 



All the preparation onions require for 

 market, is to cut or strip off their tops and 

 put them in barrels. A man or boy will 

 prepare fifty bushels per day. Onions al- 

 ways keep best in their tops, therefore, they 

 should not be removed until ready for mar- 

 market, 



GrENERAL REMARKS. — There is no crop 

 perhaps, more sure than that of onions. 

 They are liable, it is true, to blight, but this 

 seldom occurs unless they are neglected. 

 Rich soil, with a good application of manure 

 every year, and proper attention, will almost 

 invariably insure a good crop. Five hun- 

 dred bushels to an acre is an average crop, 

 though eight hundred are frequently raised. 



There are three varieties of onions com- 

 monly raised, namely, red white and yellow. 

 The red onions take the lead, as they are 

 more hardy, grow better, and bear handling 

 better than either of the other kinds. The 

 foregoing directions apply equally to each 

 variety, though white ones require more at- 

 tention in curing, and gentler handling. 

 White onions in limited quantities and in 

 condition sometimes sell for fifty per cent, in 

 advance of red- ones. 



a good market is within a convenient diei 

 tance, and the soil suits, perhaps no crop 

 pays better than onions. 



For several years past, we have grown 

 what is called top onions. They are early, 

 and a safe crop, but not as profitable as the 

 seed for a large crop. The potato onion is 

 also cultivated ' by many. Growing from 

 setts of last year will also produce early 

 onions of fine quality. In the West this crop 

 class is too much neglected, but we are glad 

 to know that more attention is being paid to 

 it. 



The Culture of Potatoes. 



When a boy we had an abhorance to 

 the planting, hoeing and digging of pota- 

 toes, [t was then the practice to cover them 

 deeply, to make a small mound at each hill, 

 and in hoeing, it was backaching work to 

 hill them up, and again at the digging, to 

 mine them out. We then thought that 

 when we got to he a man, and farmed it to 

 our own liking, that we would either invent 

 some easier process or purchase our supplies, 

 and during the first ten years of our rural 



Onions, unlike most other crops, may be 

 raised on the same ground for an indefinite 

 length of time, without any deterioration in 

 quantity or quality, provided the ground is 

 good in heart. The writer knows ground 

 that has been used for upward of thirty con- 

 secutive years for this crop, and the last was 

 as good, if not better than the first. 



It may not be amiss to remark just here 

 that skill in the onion business— and it is an 

 important item — is only acquired, as in 

 every other department of labor, by practice. 

 Therefore, it is better for a new beginner in 

 the business to commence on a small scale. 

 And let no one delude himself with the idea 

 of becoming suddedly rich from raising 

 onions. Patient, honest industry will here 

 as every where else, be rewarded, and when 



life 



on 



the 



prairies, we 



only 



grew 



barely 



enough for home use. Since then we have 

 been experimenting more or less with the 

 tuber, and think we have made some ad- 

 vances in cheapening their cultura, With- 

 out going back to what we have done we 

 will at this time give the course that we 

 have laid down for the nest crop. We have 

 corn stubble on which to put the crop, it is 

 rich land, but without manure. Plowing in 

 the seed has been our favorite mode of plant- 

 ing for some years, and one that we have no 

 idea of improving upon. To do this- we do 

 not wish to plow more than three inches 

 deep, but this on corn stubble would not 

 make what we would term deep culture, and 

 without deep culture we could not expect 

 much of a crop. We had intended to have 

 plowed our ground last fall, but the husking 

 of the corn was delayed until too late, and 

 we are left to the corn stubble. Fortunate- 

 ly, the Messrs, Deer & Co., of Moline, sent 



